Generally, golfers place a ball on a tee, swing a golf club in an arcing motion with respect to their bodies and strike the ball with the head of a golf club. If the club face and the ball do not connect in a flush manner, the ball will either deviate to the left to from a hook or deviate to the right to form a slice with respect to a horizontal and perpendicular plane to the golfer.
Various attempts have been made to try to analyze a golfer's swing for these deviations from a straight path when the ball is not hit flush. These devices typically provide feedback to the golfer on the direction of the flight of the ball when the club head strikes it. Examples of such devices may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,341 by Walker entitled "Golf Swing Analyzer", U.S. Pat. NO. 3,408,076 by Carboni entitled "Golf Swing Indicator", U.S. Pat. No. 3,113,780 by Livingstone entitled "Golf Practice-Swing Device", and U.S. Pat. No. 3,081,109 by Starck entitled "Sport Practice Device."
To correct a golfer's improper swing, other devices have been developed which create a path or put guide posts along the ground for directing the direction of the swing before striking the ball. Examples of these devices may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,465,281 by Whitfield entitled "Golf Practice Mat", United Kingdom Patent Application 2,066,083 by Abel & Imray entitled "Golf Training Aid", and France Patent 2,614,544 by Chapman entitled "Ball Simulator For Golf Swing Practice." These devices, however, require the golfer to some show physically guide his swing through the guide posts or along the designated path to hit the ball. Also, other devices have been developed, such as seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,994,501 by O'Donnell entitled "Golf Swing Practice Device", which provide feedback on weight shifts for the golfer as he swings to hit the ball.
Further, some devices have been developed which provide a wall for guiding the golfer's swing. Such devices may be seen in United Kingdom Patent 504,154 by Chapman entitled "Apparatus For Practicing Golf Strokes" and U.S. Pat. No. 3,753,563 by Previte, Jr. entitled "Golf Practice Device." These wall devices, however, fail to provide adequate height for the walls, angular and pivotal adjustments for the wall, flexibility when the golf club strikes the wall instead of the ball, or physical and mental limitations for guiding the club head when striking the ball.
Therefore, there is a continual need for an apparatus that corrects a golfer's swing by mentally inhibiting an improper swing and by providing flexibility if the golf club fails to properly strike the ball.